Behind the mask
by Arakanga
Summary: He didn't kill her because of the lie she'd said. Mrs. Lovett's death was only the price of the truth about Sweeney Todd. One-shot.


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_My first attempt on Sweeney Todd fiction. Please, review it if you read it so I can know how you liked it._

_So, the story says that Sweeney Todd has killed Mrs. Lovett because she'd lied to him about Lucy, right? Well, she did lie to _him, no one can deny it. But did he really kill her only because of that, or did he have any other reasons? The summary sucks, as always.

She was standing before the door to his barbershop. The warm brown eyes of hers gazed trough the glass, right at the man she loved. Sweeney Todd didn't seem to notice that she was there, although he had to hear her coming, she was sure of that – the wooden planks of the stairs always made loud creaking noises when someone walked upstairs, even she, when working down in the bakery, could hear it.

Before Sweeney Todd's return (could she really call it „return"? It was not Benjamin Barker anymore), the sound didn't mean anything to her at all. Mrs. Lovett didn't come to the former barbershop too often - after all, what was she supposed to do there? – so she didn't really think about the creaking stairs. But in these days, she could easily distinguish between the sound of Mr. Todd's steps and the steps of his customers (when walking upstairs, of course – there hasn't been many men so lucky to get back downstairs alive) and so she always knew by a single noise that there was to be enough meat for tomorrow's bake of pies. _Fresh supplies_, she and the barber called the unfortunate customers.

She sighed and entered the barbershop. It was dark and dusty there, as always, as if the air in the room was somehow poisoned by what has happened there in the past, the slight smell of blood wasn't helping either. She had to wait for a moment before her eyes got used to the shadows. Then she saw Mr. Todd clearly, he was washing his hands, ignoring her. She waited patiently for him to turn around.

Mrs. Lovett has always been patient with the man standing before her. Sometimes she started to think that if she didn't love him as much as she did, she would have to hate him for...well, for everything. For his behaviour to her. For his rudeness. She was loving, gentle, caring and generous towards him. And how did he repay her? By threatening to slice her throat many times, ordering her to wash his shirts, clean the mess he always did with the murders...and he never cared that she could hardly move sometimes, that her whole body hurt and she was exhausted beyond imagination. The last days were really bad for her. And it also started to reflect on her mood.

She coughed politely, still waiting. He didn't turn around, but at least spoke to her quietly. „Mrs. Lovett."

„Love, I jus' thought tha' I should've told ya..." She started to talk about all the things that needed to be done – she could easily shop the ingredients for the pies herself, but some things were just too heavy to carry home on her own and she just needed his help, however she hated to admit it.

She could tell by the mysterious, yet somehow empty look in his black eyes, that he's not listening to her. He dried his hands, threw the dirty towel aside and picked up the picture of his wife and Johanna, staring at them, almost begging them to break the glass holding the pictures and come to him again. This was very sad indeed, but for this moment, Mrs. Lovett had enough.

„Are ya payin' attention to me, Mr. T.?" she suddenly snapped.

He wasn't in his best mood either. „To be honest, not at all."

„I see." Nellie eyed the photograph hatefully, feeling her inner barriers to shatter. To hell with pity for this man. „Anythin' ain't that important, is it? Anythin' but those shadows of your past tha' ya don't even remember clearly!" She gave him a scornful look.

He turned to her, his eyes glaring threateningly. „Go away."

Usually, she would just obey and leave the room. „No."

„GO AWAY!" he shouted, reaching for his razor. Mrs. Lovett could easily see that he was about to lose his temper completely. And she didn't give a damn because, for the first time in her whole life, she had lost it too.

„DON'T YA DARE TO SHOUT AT ME IN MY OWN HOUSE!" she yelled at him.

He stepped closer to her, smirking slightly. „I warn you, Mrs. Lovett..."

„Wha' are ya goin' to do?" she returned his smirk, sarcasm dripping from her voice. „Kill me? I'd very enjoy to watch ya do all th' stuff I've gotta put up with!" He didn't respond at this. She stepped closer, forcing him to look in her eyes. „Tell me, when th' Judge is gone...what'll ya do after that, huh?"

This question obviously surprised him. He winked several times, realizing that he haven't thought about that yet. And by the glare she was giving him, he was sure that she'd guessed this, she knew that his very existence as Sweeney Todd was limited by the time that Judge Turpin lived.

She grinned at him."Ya don't know, do you. Then lemme ask ya one more thin', Mr. T." Ignoring the _Don't play with me, Mrs. Lovett_ look on his face, she took a deep breath. „What about your daughter?"

Todd turned away from her and stared trough the window. Her victorious look made his blood boil, but he somehow knew she was right. Sweeney Todd needed Mrs. Lovett. „If she would...if she wants to do so after I'm finished with Turpin, she can live with me."

Another laugh from her just made his anger even more intense. „I see. Look at yourself, Mr. T. D'ya think she would?" No reply. „The blood on your hands. How rude ya are. How ya think only 'bout revenge and that stuff, ya don't understand people. I can imagine she'd rather run away with th' sailor boy..."

„THAT'S NOT ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS!" he shouted.

„Is it?" she raised an eyebrow at this. „If ya were a normal man, a man who's able to act like husband or father, everythin' would be different. You never repay for wha' you get and never notice the good around ya." Her voice turned into a whisper now. „And if you'd be normal, you'd stop chasin' those memories and would start to live again! You're not able to do so, though. Or are ya just afraid?"

His eyes narrowed. „I am NOT afraid," he hissed. „But you can't imagine what has been taken from me. It's only natural that I want revenge!"

„And it's all 'bout ya again! Have ya ever noticed that you ain't the only one whose life sucks?! Have ya ever asked me 'bout what was my marriage like? Have ya ever asked me for how long is my husband dead and wha' did I have to do after his death?! Have you-" she shouted at him, tears dwelling in her eyes, although she hasn't cried for many years, „- have ya ever thought that there's someone else loving you and tha' love ain't anythin' you get every day for nothin'? Have you ever thought about how much I've done for ya, that I've listened like an idiot to all of your whinin' about your precious Lucy and Johanna and comforting you! And what did you ever do for me?!"

He remained silent, quite shocked by her speech. She kept on shouting at him, pacing all over the dusty room. „It's always me who's gotta clean up all the mess ya do with those murders. It's always me washin' your shirts, takin' care of you, cookin' and all that stuff. It's always me chopping the bodies in pieces. Do ya think you were hardened by your life?! You have no idea."

Somehow again, Todd knew she was right but he wasn't the type of man to admit it. He just kept staring at her, expressionless. Mrs. Lovett let out a deep sigh and started walking away. „I think you really are just scared. Perhaps you're too afraid to admit that ya could be happy with someone else." _With me, _her eyes added silently. „It may feel like a betrayal, I'd say. But there's no way to escape from the truth."

And with that, she was gone.

Sweeney Todd stood in the middle of his barbershop, half-hoping that this whole conversation was only in his mind, just his imagination. But it was not. Nellie Lovett knew him, knew him too well. The mask he tried to show the outer world has failed this time. And when the truths she shouted at him echoed again and again in his head, he fell to his knees and breathed heavily. _There's no way to escape from the truth._

Gently, he caressed the blade he held in his hand.

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On the second day, when the bodies of Sweeney Todd, Lucy Barker and many unfortunate customers (now in pieces) were carried away from the cellar, no one knew that Mrs. Lovett is no longer alive, never to be found again. Nor did anyone know that she was not surprised when the barber threw her into the flames. She has expected the death and, even was looking foward it.

And while nobody knew about the conversation they had on the previous day, no one would suspect that she died not because she lied about Benjamin Barker's wife; she died because she saw the real face of Sweeney Todd.

And, which was even worse...

...because she knew the truth about him. That under his cruel murderous look, he was always scared. And because she knew that, she had to die.

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_It's a bit strange, I know, I've written this during the night, being sleepy and not exactly knowing what I write. However, I would really appreciate a review._

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